Self compassion, the new self confidence?

That simple question is the basis for a burgeoning new area of psychological research called self-compassion — how kindly people view themselves. People who find it easy to be supportive and understanding to others, it turns out, often score surprisingly low on self-compassion tests, berating themselves for perceived failures like being overweight or not exercising.’

This is the beginning of a New York Times article on self compassion. It isn’t the same as self confidence – and some would say more important. The article goes on to recommend reassuring yourself rather than telling yourself off. The reassurance helps motivation.

It backs up my mantra to clients to be gentle to themselves. Often high achievers won’t celebrate their success but would rather focus on the negative.

Over to you

A question to ponder – How can you be kind to yourself today? Leave your comments below.